Runtime:
85 minutes
Release
Date: May 4, 2012
Rating:
NR
Director:
Alexandre Courtes
It's
almost impossible to make a living as a musician, which is why the
three main characters in "Asylum Blackout" work at a local
mental institution in Washington. They don't think it's odd in the
slightest because they work behind locked doors and they rarely come
into contact with any of the inmates. That all changes when a storm
knocks out the power.
Something
like this should have a simple resolution. The guards working should
know how to round up the inmates, take them back to their cells, and
lock them in safely. Instead, the guards don't really know how to do
their jobs, making it clear that the asylum, which is again in
Washington where it always rains, never thought it might lose power.
Those guards demand that the three men help them take care of the
inmates. You probably know what happens next. The inmates revolt,
kill several guards, and all hell breaks loose.
"Asylum
Blackout" shows that not all modern day horror films suck. The
lead actors occasionally leave something to be desired especially the
actor playing George. At the beginning of the film, he makes it clear
that all he cares about is his music. He doesn't work late because he
has to practice, and he even turns down his hot girlfriend's offer of
sex because he wants to hit the studio. While it makes it believable
that he would want to help the guards so he can get home, it doesn't
explain why he doesn't really seem to care until the film is almost
over.
Some of
the scenes in the film are incredibly dark, and there is a fair
amount of gore too. I read somewhere that during a screening, two
people passed out because of the violence. I don't know if that's
true or not, but I also don't think the film is quite that gory. It's
better than a number of films made with larger budgets, and it does a
good job of showing what filmmakers can do without using CGI.
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